Med rec, handoffs examined in journal articles
Patient Safety Monitor Alert
May 2, 2007
Medication reconciliation and handoffs between the emergency department and hospital were examined in separate articles for the May Academic Emergency Medicine Journal.
The first article deals with the use of out-of-hospital lists to improve medication reconciliation. Such lists are made by EMS personnel as they enter a patient's home and transport him or her to the hospital. They are seldom used in the reconciliation process, however. The study found that these lists are not always complete, but the information they include is generally accurate and can help corroborate other information gathered.
The second article found that patient handoffs from the emergency department to another hospital unit are haphazard. Most do not include needed information or do not follow a consistent pattern, which increases the risk to patients.
